In Defense of Murphy’s Defense

Well, the Mets suffered a second consecutive loss under vaguely excruciating circumstances last night. It isn’t easy to immediately follow the restoration of hope a two-out, ninth-inning home run provides with a defeat brought about by bullpen collapse.

But what many people took from last night’s game was yet another mental mistake in the field from Daniel Murphy- this time, a failure to record an out when a baserunner ran halfway from first to second, only to realize that a man already stood on second base. The mistake was particularly noteworthy, since the day before, Murphy had made an identical one on the basepaths. One would think a kind of defensive empathy had resulted.

Look, I’ve argued in this space before (and others!) that the Mets have no real business playing Daniel Murphy anywhere but second base. That case is even stronger now, incidentally. His offense has been strong this year- a 126 OPS+. But that would rank him tied for 12th out of 23 among first basemen who qualify for the batting title this season, making him a below-average option at the position. Among second basemen? He’d be fourth in all of baseball.

And yes, he’d be third in baseball among third basemen. But the reasons not to play Murphy there haven’t changed. For one thing, David Wright. For another, sure they could deal him to a team needing a third baseman, but why do that when the Mets desperately need a second baseman, have no short-term or medium-term answer at the position, and could employ a cost-controlled Murphy there as a top-five offensive option?

And while Murphy clearly makes his share of head-scratching plays, his overall defensive play at second base has been fairly strong, as per defensive metrics. That isn’t an argument that he is definitely an above-average second baseman, defensively. But it certainly isn’t an argument against it. I’d call it: Merits Further Study. Which means, play Murphy at 2B.

Terry Collins made a great point during last night’s press conference: Murphy didn’t play in 2010 due to injury, then has been asked to play three separate positions in 2011. The surest way to make Daniel Murphy a more competent defensive player is to give him reps at one position. And that position should be second base. See how all the separate threads lead to a single conclusion? Me too.

If it were me, Mike Baxter would get the call from Triple-A, so the Mets can see what he can do, and put him in right field. Lucas Duda would play first base, since the Mets have a pretty good idea what he can do in the outfield (not much) and until Jason Bay is traded, his main position is blocked. Daniel Murphy, the first player in this paragraph with a strong chance of being an above-average regular, should play every day at second base. And Justin Turner can return to the bench, where he can play his supersub role well, instead of blocking second base for Murphy, a clearly better hitter.

What I wouldn’t do is keep shifting Murphy around. It obviously isn’t working defensively, and works against the team’s long-term needs and what is best for Murphy. This seems like an oversight on par with previous administrations, which is why it is so shocking to see from Sandy Alderson, who has calibrated nearly everything with total precision. I’d love to know what else is factoring into the organization’s thinking here, and will report back to you once I find out.

Howard Megdal is the Lead Writer for the LoHud Mets Blog and Writer At Large for Capital New York. He covers baseball, basketball, and soccer for these and numerous other publications. His new book, "Wilpon's Folly," is available as an e-book at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Follow the LoHud Mets Blog on Twitter @lohudmets. Follow Howard on Twitter @HowardMegdal.

What adds to the problem is that Turner needs to play 2nd base because he is needed to BAT second, because Pagan nor Thole have been hitting as expected. If Pagan was batting as he did last year, he would be batting 2nd, Murphy would be 2nd baseman, and a call up would alternate with Duda between 1st/RF.

It’s pretty obvious what else is factoring into the organizations decision: need.

It’s basically Jason Turner, but it’s also that they don’t have another outfielder. You gotta put Duda and Murphy in the lineup (at least, you gotta put Murphy, and Duda seems to be the choice right now)

If you went Duda at first, Murphy at second, you’d need someone else to play the outfield. this way you make Duda learn the OF. Murphy’s proven that he can be a positive helpful piece for this team, Duda has not. So give the excess defensive experience to the new guy (1B basically being the ‘dead’ position.)

Turner is a guy you also want to see more of, and playing Murphy at first base helps you out there. Turner can play second, (or SS or third) and then you get to see more of to make a decision on.

Basically, if Daniel Murphy were to end his season today, or at the end of the season, you’d have basically the same decisions and certainties with him going into next year, so there is little value in sitting him at second and trying to figure out a long term plan based on some haphazard learning at the majors fielding. Spring Training and/or Winter ball will be enough to settle the defensive role for Daniel.

Alderson and Collins have each said all along that the GM’s job is to aquire the players and the Manager’s job is to use them where he sees fit. It’s really Collins’ fault that Murphy has not been playing 2B over Turner, not Alderson’s. Now the question is, do you think the GM should have a say in how the manager should use his players?
I think not for the most part. As much as most fans would like the probably smarter Alderson to be calling the shots, there is something to be said about the presence Collins has built in the clubhouse and it seems like the players have been playing harder under him than gangsta Jerry. I would think that having Alderson pull some puppet strings would sort of immasculate Collins. It also depends on how much weight you put in intangibles such as these which I think even sabermetric GMs do put some stock in.
Now, in another month when we are nowhere near the wildcard, and rosters expand it is a little different story. Alderson could bring up some young guys and say he wants certain guys to gain experience for next year whoever that may be.